A small group of Syrian rebels have entered the embattled border town of Kobani to help Kurdish fighters battling Islamic State (IS) extremists, according to reports.

The group of about 50 armed fighters is from the Free Syrian Army, an umbrella group of mainstream rebels fighting to topple Syrian president Bashar Assad.

Idriss Nassan, a Kurdish official from Kobani, said the group crossed to Kobani through the Mursitpinar border crossing with Turkey.

Their arrival early today came several hours after a group of Iraqi Kurdish peshmerga troops arrived in Turkey, also on their way to Syria to help their Syrian Kurdish brethren fight IS militants.

The peshmerga fighters from Iraq are expected to cross into Syria later today.

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